Zulily

The Brief

Not To Scale were approached by Kontent Partners to create a beautiful virtual shopping world, showcasing dozens of desirable items in eye -catching display units for shopping platform Zulily. This ‘Zulily world’ was meant to be a visual representation of a customer’s experience of shopping on the Zulily website, navigating their way through the choice of products, the price comparison and shipping. We enter the Zulily world through an App on the phone. We then travel through our retail world experiencing it from the customer’s point of view. The camera movements are kept very linear so that you almost feel like you are swiping across the screen as you would with an App to move from one area of the store to another.

The Solution 

Not To Scale Director Anthony Farquhar-Smith and Zulily wanted to design a world that was quite fantastical but still rooted to certain real world ideologies. Zulily referenced the backlit sake bar from Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs, which Anthony was lead animator on, and this was coupled with compartment style display units that are found in boutique shops. After doing some initial designs Rachel Thomas, an art director who has experience working with high-end brands such as Hermes and Mulberry, was approached and her input ensured a retail authenticity that was essential to our ‘Zulily world.’

Because the scripts were all about celebrating the ‘Joy of Shopping’ it was important to inject as much fun into them as possible and move away from a cold mechanical world, where everything moved in a regimented and robotic way. The arms that select and move the items about in ‘Zulily world’ needed to be full of personality and go about their business in a playful and light hearted way.

The Result

A series of 4 exquisitely fashioned films with the emphasis on craft, detail and a unique shopping experience, Anthony immerses you into a glorious miniature world of Zulily fun.

The most challenging aspect of making these films for Zulily was the schedule. The plan was for the first film to air during the week of Thanksgiving in the United States, giving only 7 weeks from when the job awarded to the day the first one had to be completed. Working with the world class Clockwork Frog and Yaminations for sets and props ensured that this was achieved.

Behind the Scenes

Watch the ‘making of’ below: